Homestead Preserve

The Concept

Homestead Preserve is comprised of 4000 acres assembled over a century ago by The Homestead and Ingalls Family. The original developer, Warm Springs Investment Company, purchased 14,000 acres in 2003 from Virginia Hot Springs Company, the parent of The Homestead Resort. 10,000 of these acres became The Nature Conservancy’s Warm Springs Mountain Preserve, forever insuring the undeveloped beauty of over 8 miles of this 4200’ mountain that defines our valley. The Nature Conservancy lands secure the entire eastern boundary of Homestead Preserve.
 
Homestead Preserve is made up of two sections: 2000 acres encircling The Homestead and Hot Springs, and another 2,000 acres surrounding the Old Dairy and Jefferson Pools in Warm Springs. The Hot Springs section is made up of the Sheep Meadow and Delafield Rise neighborhoods with sites along The Homestead’s golf course to elevated sites at 3000’ looking west over 5 ridges into West Virginia. The Warm Springs section is more farm like in appearance with high, rolling meadows and more privacy in larger lot sizes. The view is similar looking west for more than 50 miles.
 
Ownership in the Preserve offers membership to The Homestead Golf & Tennis Club with all of the resort’s amenities; golf, tennis, spa, indoor and outdoor pools, skiing, skating, shooting club, private trout stream, restaurants and shopping. The Preserve’s trail system connects you to all of the Homestead Trails and the entire 10,000-acre Nature Conservancy lands. The Old Dairy is a private amenity for Preserve owners with its own pools, spa, gym, meeting and event space.

Ownership History

The development of Homestead Preserve was largely funded by the financial strength and experience of the Crosland Company. Changing economic realities after 2008 led to Wells Fargo Bank replacing Crosland’s financial role and ownership. The original developers of Homestead Preserve, Charles Adams and Don Killoren, partnered with an English property developer, Natural Retreats, and bought the remaining land from Wells Fargo to continue the Preserve as intended. The most important action taken during Wells Fargo’s ownership was the validation and legal continuation of the original Preserve Community Charter. This recorded document sustains all of the important covenants, restrictions and guidelines of Homestead Preserve for the future. Ownership of the Preserve has changed, but all of the original designs remain in full force insuring the environmental, architectural design, and administrative guidelines for current and future owners in Homestead Preserve. Existing homes and lots are available. 
 
Today new energy has been given to The Preserve by a new Developer at affordable prices, and larger parcels for estate creation.

What’s new about Homestead Preserve today?

Over 50 homes have been built to date and several new homes are underway.  The good news is that buyers today have the opportunity to purchase incredible sites at very fair values. The land remains the same. It has always been some of the best land in the valley: that’s why The Homestead assembled it over a hundred years ago. All the infrastructure of utilities, roads and amenities are in place. The re-emergence of Homestead Preserve today is solely driven by the incredible beauty of the Warm Springs Valley and security of The Nature Conservancy’s 10,000 acre adjacency: the beauty of this land remains unchanged by time, ownership or economic changes.

Village at Warm Springs Farm Historic Rehabilitation

The newest section of The Preserve is a replication of the spa cottages built around the Jefferson Pools when The Warm Springs Hotel dominated the valley from the late 1700s through its eventual fading in the earliest portion of the 20th century. One of the original cottages still exists and anchors the new cottages located next to the historic thermal pools.

Preview the Village at Warm Springs Farm

SHEEP MEADOW

DELAFIELD RISE

OLD DIARY

WARM SPRINGS FARM

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Sheep Meadow Neighborhood

In the day when much of The Homestead’s needs were homegrown, the 500 acres that makes up Sheep Meadow was exactly what it sounds like. There was a Shepherd’s Cottage centered in broad upland meadows to 3000ft elevation. When Dan Ingalls came home to be the fourth family member to guide the Hotel, he chose a high saddle in one of these meadows as the site to build his home. The terrain is the entire western face of Warm Springs Mountain with views extending over 60 miles.

The Homestead Tower stands out below above the treetops. Sheep Meadow has available sites along the golf course, secluded wooded coves further up the mountain, and high meadow vantages. A spring creates a central pond and a trail system guides you to the Hotel in a short 5 minute walk, or to The Nature Conservancy Preserve up above. All Homestead Preserve neighborhoods have extensive areas under conservation easements and Nature Conservancy adjacencies that insure the scenic integrity and natural habitat.

Delafield Rise Neighborhood

The Delafield neighborhood got its name from the Delafield Road that was the primary access to the Hotel coming up through the woods from the south. Route 220 replaced Delafield as automobile transportation brought new requirements, but the gentle, rolling woodland has many beautiful flats with long views north through Hot Springs Gap.

Hidden meadows have been opened up to enhance views where cottages have been grouped around these common areas. Delafield Rise also encompasses the highest elevation lots at 3200’ and sites along The Homestead’s main ski slope. While Delafield offers the choice of a hidden wooded site, many lots are within a short downhill walk to the Hotel amenities. All Homestead Preserve neighborhoods have extensive areas under conservation easements and Nature Conservancy adjacencies that insure the scenic integrity and natural habitat.

The Old Dairy Neighborhood

The Homestead Dairy was the first source of dependable milk supplies for the County and it all came from a herd that roamed the 1700 acre grazing farm around the Dairy. One of the Preserve’s largest investments was the restoration of the Dairy, Milk House, Herdsman’s Cottage and Bull Barn. The Old Dairy facility is an amenity for all Preserve homeowners and includes a small spa with whirlpool, sauna, massage treatment rooms, gym, outdoor pool, meeting and yoga rooms, activity areas with fireplace and kids interests.

The larger meadows of Old Dairy gave birth to lots up to 15 acres in size for a lower density that preserves these beautiful grazing areas that greet us as we crest Warm Spring Mountain and see the valley for the first time. Positioned to look west through Warm Springs Gap, Old Dairy offers spectacular views up and down the valley, as well as sunsets through the Gap. A trail has been created that leads up to Flag Rock Overlook where you can as far as the Blue Ridge to the east of the Shenandoah Valley. All Homestead Preserve neighborhoods have extensive areas under conservation easements and Nature Conservancy adjacencies that insure the scenic integrity and natural habitat.

Warm Springs Farm Neighborhood

These sites are the northernmost portion of Homestead Preserve where the Valley ends with a 1000 acre bowl know as Chimney Run. Everything you see here is either part of the Preserve’s design or under a conservation easement aimed at keeping things as there are now. There are interior ridges that offer a perspective not seen in the other neighborhoods of Homestead Preserve; rather than looking west across the valley, there are elevated locations here where the view is unobstructed to the south for the full 20 miles course of the Valley.

Here you look over a church steeple down below, hear the Courthouse clock tower ring, and cold mornings hold the Jefferson Pools thermal steam as a blanket over the valley floor. Warm Springs Farm has the added amenity of a Stable and Paddocks for residents to use. Trails lead from the stable to hundreds of miles of rides through National Forest and Nature Conservancy lands. All Homestead Preserve neighborhoods have extensive areas under conservation easements and Nature Conservancy adjacencies that insure the scenic integrity and natural habitat.